Post by DornKoon on Apr 1, 2024 10:06:47 GMT
Name:
Arthur
Age:
14
Race:
Human
Appearance:
Arthur is a pale teenage boy with blond hair and strikingly icy blue eyes. His body still shows signs from his past life of poverty and mistreatment, with remains in the form of scars still visible around his body. He is also slightly shorter than other boys his age, with his growth being slightly stunted due to the lack of food he often had to endure. In terms of clothes, since he started his life as an apprentice to become a Page, he has been wearing the robes given to him as a sign of his occupation and status. It is far better than anything he had been wearing, and he takes great care of all his new clothes, keeping them as pristine as possible.
Abilities:
Blessed by the North Wyrd
Arthur has always been more comfortable in the cold. He is unbothered by chill air and icy winds, and things like frost and snow don't melt to his touch. Why this is, he doesn't know; it's just always been that way. He's also not as bothered by darkness as many other humans, able to see where others might not. On the flipside, he is not a fan of heat, except for a hot meal and a comfortably soft bed. He won't melt in the sun but will burn more easily from it, not to mention how difficult it is for him to manipulate fire unless it is done with a flint.
Skills:
Nobody's Fool
When it comes to lying, half-truths, and playing the part, Arthur might be considered an expert, even at his young age. He can keep a story straight even after many months and has an excellent knack for spotting when someone is lying, be it by their actions or telltale signs. He has perceptive eyes and keen ears, knowing well how to look "busy" while listening in on conversations or appear unaware while still on his toes.
Streetwise Nimbleness
Life on the street is hard, and Arthur has had to escape many situations and learn how to get away when needed. The youngster is very nimble and can get through openings that are too small for adults and many other teenagers. Climbing, jumping, and general acrobatics are his second nature, making him a difficult target to pin down during a chase. He is not stupid enough to stick around when faced with a more powerful enemy, choosing to fight another day.
Apprentice Page
Having only recently started his apprenticeship to become a Page. Arthur has limited knowledge about magic and the weaving of spells, but he does possess much potential in manipulating the Wyrd. Eagerness, a growing sense of belonging, and sufficient encouragement have made a lot of difference. He has also started to learn skills intimately linked with being a Page; reading, writing, history, etiquette, and math are just a few of the lessons he has been getting, and that is outside of the magic itself. He has also grown good at other things due to his duties as an apprentice, such as cleaning, cooking, and washing, to name a few.
Inventory:
- Currency: Modest. A step above base labor. Can afford a drink or two at the pub, but not much more than that. Footsoldiers, caretakers, people working marginally above farm labor.
Utility Belt
A belt with several small bags and satchels attached holds whatever tools, trinkets, and materials an apprentice like Arthur might need. It also holds his "real" purse of coins.
Inside the Boots
Arthur has habitually hidden valuables inside his big boots, such as coins (wrapped in cloth so as not to jingle around) and materials for spells, just in case of a rainy day. Most of the time, it is a great place to hide things, even more so if he keeps things in the bags for people to take instead.
Milestone:
Arthur wishes to continue his apprenticeship under his Master and earn himself the full-fledged title of Page!
Chronicle:
Arthur the Orphan
Arthur was born; that much is known about his birth; the identity of his parents, however, remains unknown. He was left on the doorstep of an orphanage 14 years ago with only an embroidered blanket bearing his name, Arthur. He was always an unusual child; everything from his oddly bright eyes and cold, pale skin to his resistance to the chill air of the north was unusual. In the orphanage, unusual things were problematic, unwanted, and suspicious. Individuality was to be "corrected", and children were to be raised according to the standard of the Empire. But Arthur never did fit in and was always the "black sheep" among the orphans. Not that the nuns running the place did not try their best to push him into the right mould, usually with different levels of punishments or pain.
Arthur habitually asked questions and did not accept the answer "because it's how things work" or "because I said so." His curiosity, inquisitiveness, and sharp eye earned him more than a few beatings. Still, Arthur never learned much from these beatings, apart from how to be more skilled at telling who he could and could not ask. If anything, it made the boy more crafty at hiding unwanted things, making him an excellent liar at as young an age as seven.
He rarely got to eat until full or sleep as long as he wanted, and most food was bland, boring and often cold or dry, if not both. Only for special occasions did they get things like turkey or sweets, usually for holidays such as the Emperor's Birthday or the like. The rare times he tried to save sweets for later, he was always beaten and had them stolen. So Arthur also learned early how to keep things hidden from himself and designed ways of dealing with the bullies by always keeping just enough in his pockets for it to be "worth their time" and keeping the majority of whatever he wanted to keep hidden inside his shoes. He went from doing this with sweets to the small amount of coinage he could earn doing odd jobs for people around the city.
The Boy and the Inquisitor
The moment that would change Arthur's life forever came during a particularly nasty storm as he returned from doing odd jobs for a local merchant. He sought shelter inside a delipated old mill, hiding from the rain and thunder in what remained of the old building. As fate would have it, someone else had a similar idea, and a man in armour joined the boy. The two talked as they watched the lightning bolts cross the sky and listened to the rain. The stranger introduced himself as Sir Clive and even shared his meal with Arthur, much to the boy's delight as he had not had a nice hot meal in weeks.
Sir Clive began to ask Arthur about himself, where he lived, and his life. But he also asked if there had been any unusual people in the area. Arthur did not notice that Sir Clive was an undercover inquisitor to hunt a renegade Wyrd that had been sighted in the area, nor that Sir Clive had made a mental note that Arthur seemed unbothered by the chill in the air.
Still, due to the nature of his mission and its urgency, Sir Clive did not have the luxury of looking into the curious boy at that point. It would need to wait until he had dealt with the more dangerous threat.
So, when Arthur walked into the Matron's office three days later, he found Sir Clive there, smiling at him from the nice armchair. He was even more surprised when Sir Clive ordered the Matron to leave them alone... and she listened?! Arthur had never seen anyone do that, and he did... like it. With the two of them alone, Sir Clive asked Arthur to sit in the chair opposite him. What followed was a conversation that would change his life forever... Clive told Arthur that he could sense the Wyrd around him and offered to take him to a place where he could learn how to use that.
It was much for Arthur to take in, and Sir Clive offered him three days to mull it over and, if he accepted, to meet him at the bridge going out of town in the morning of the third day. Arthur spent a lot of time thinking, mulling it over and spending most of the time just... walking around the local area. Once the third day came, he had made his decision... and left for the bridge, meeting a waiting Inquisitor there, who praised him for his decision. (It had always been a fake offer, as Clive would have gone to collect him even if he had not turned up. But, making it the illusion of a choice seemed best.)
The two began the journey to Värgen.
Arthur the Apprentice
Sir Clive had already written ahead, so their arrival was not unexpected. And it was upon their arrival to Värgen that Arthur was introduced to the person who would become his Master. That was where his life as an apprentice began, with all the duties that came along with it. Having never been schooled before, the first order of business was to teach the youngster how to read and write. He was also given increasingly regular tasks, such as washing the clothes, keeping the Master's bookshelf tidy, and cleaning out old bottles. His Master was very practical, seeing the importance of keeping the boy busy to keep him out of trouble, which worked most of the time.
Arthur has grown to admire his Master and the work done by the Inquisition and the other Pages, listening to the many stories they return with about the dangerous Wyrds and how much damage they cause to the good humans of Galt. Sir Clive is always a welcome presence every time he returns from a mission, and he's made a habit of bringing something back for Arthur, with Arthur having started a small collection of random trinkets he's been given by the Inquisitor.
Others might find the haunted nature and cold air of Värgen to be like hell, for Arthur was not bothered by it. Sure, work is hard but fulfilling, and he is on the path to something greater than himself, becoming someone important and useful. He had a room for the first time in his life, even if it was small, and he did not have to go hungry, and the food was far better than at the orphanage.
Myth:
Quest Log:
Miscellaneous:
